(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a series of articles about
football as
it was played and won at FHS many years ago.

Coach Boles' greatest year at Fostoria High was certainly 1912, when
The
Boston Transcript conceded that the Fostoria High football team was
the best
in the United States. Springfield had the best team in its history
that year
and Fostoria defeated them easily 41-0.

Then on Thanksgiving Day, always a great day for football in Fostoria,
Buffa-
lo Central High, the champions of New York State who had won the Vanderbilt
Cup, came to town, expecting to continue their successful record.
The local
fans despaired for FHS because of Buffalo's expertise with the forward
pass
and their fast handling of plays. Fostoria's initial fears turned
to joy
when the score ended Fostoria 74 to Buffalo 0.

Coach Little, from University of Cincinnati, who officiated in several
of the
games in which Fostoria played, said he thought Fostoria had the forward-pass
nearer perfection than any team he had ever seen, and that they could
defeat
the majority of the colleges in the state.

BOLES TO WOOSTER

Boles' success at Fostoria was too much to hold him here, so in 1913
he ac-
cepted a coaching position at East Cleveland, and later went to Wooster
Col-
lege to headup all their athletics. He stayed at Wooster for the
rest of his
coaching career, and during that time attracted Fostorians there to
partici-
pate in sports, including Bill Daub and Charles "Red" Forrest.

Boles retired as coach of Wooster in 1939, but became athletic director,
a
position he held until death in 1945.

1913 was a sad season for the Red and Black football team. Coach
Loomis,
following Boles, was unable to do much with his players and the season
ended
up with Fostoria losing many of its games, accumulating 131 points to
91 for
the opponents.

OHIO-MICHIGAN CHAMPS

George "Red" Trautman, an Ohio State University graduate came
to Fostoria in
1914 to turn things around. He was popular with the players and
fans from
the start. Fostoria beat Tifin 112-0. Ann Arbor, the champions
of Michigan,
played here on Thanksgiving Day and FHS won easily. Having already
won all
of the Ohio games, Fostoria wa acclaimed the champions of Ohio and Michigan.
The season record was FHS 558 points to 16 for opponents.

Trautman stayed in Fostoria only two years, and during 1915 the Red
and Black
again became state champions, rolling up 299 points for the season against
21 for opponents. Trautman went from Fostoria to Ohio State to
become physi-
cal director. Pete Stinchco, one of his star players here followed
him there
and became an All-American halfback, along with "Chick" Harley,
the other
halfback.

ROUGH YEARS

In 1916, Carl Peter, an old FHS star was hired as coach. It was
a rough year
for Fostoria who was only able to garner 109 points for the season against
69 for opponents. Fostoria's record for that year was five wins,
two loses,
and one tie.

In 1917, Bill Gailey, YMCA physical director, was hired as coach.
Harold
Switzer, still living in Fostoria, was captain that year. Fostoria
rolled up
414 points for the season to 51 for opponents.

Carl Peter wa back as coach, assisted by Richard Kelley in 1918.
It was the
only year up to that time opponents were able to outscore the Red and
Black
team. The year ended Fostoria, 116 to 276 for opponents.

In addition to piling up mostly victories and winning scores, the Red
and
Black team members also established some individual feats during the
period
of 1897 through 1915. Here they are:

In 1909, in the game with Toledo, there, Harry Hoffmaster who was playing
end
for FHS, overtook Sala, Toledo's 10-second man, after he had a 10-yard
start
and caughthim before he crossed the goal line.

Carl Peter made a successful 50-yard forward-pass in the 1909 game with
Find-
lay...further than many punters can kick.

In 1908, John Johnson, in practice, made a successful drop-kick of 60
yards.
Had he done it in a game he would have beaten the record of the world's
greatest, Brickley.

George Hatfield won the trophy cup at the football tournament in Cleveland
in 1914. Out of nine chances, three for each from the 20, 25 and
30 yard
line, he did not miss a single attempt.

Hal Stout's punts during the several seasons he was a member of the
team av-
eraged about 55 yards, but in the Findlay game in 1910, he kicked one
for 85
yards, according to the old records.

Fostoria's total scores for the years 1899-1914 wre 4521, opponents
309.

Fostoria had four teams, back then, that were never scored upon, 1903
with
182-0; 1905 with 192-0; 1906 with 333-0; and 1912 with 596-0.

EARLY PLAYERS

Earlier in this article I said that it was too bad space wouldn't permit
showing more pictures of the teams from the early days. To partially
compan-
sate for those omissions we are including a list of names of team members
from 1897 through 1916 which are not listed with pictures shown.
It will in-
terest many readers.

I could write separate paragraphs about many of the above...many of
them went
on to make names for themselves in their chosen professions.

1919 NEW OUTLOOK

1919 was a turning point from Fostoria's unsuccessful years. "Smiley"
Welt-
ner arrived in Fostoria to be the coach and stayed for two years.
The first
year he found an abundance of material to work with and turned out a
fine
team, captained by Elwood Fox, fullback, and Bill Foster and Harold
Worley
as halfbacks. The season ended with Fostoria's scoring record
374 points to
35 for opponents.

In his second and final year, 1920, Weltner guided FHS to the Northwestern
Ohio Championship, making 384 points for the season to 13 for opponents.

It was during Weltner's regime that enthusiasm ran high in the school
and
among local fans for the football team. Wainwright was in Fostoria
and had
the new band functioning and had written the football fight-song.
Pep ral-
lies were held before each game and during weekly chapel sessions.

Harold Wiper became coach in 1921 and had a successful season, scoring
262
points against opponents 46.

During Wiper's second and final year in Fostoria only two opponents,
Lima
Central and Hicksville, were able to score six points each, and Fostoria
fin-
ished the season with 427 points.

I'll write more about Fostoria and St. Wendelin football at a later
date.